Heres a few pictures I took yesterday on a typically overcast Melbourne day at the 2008 International Trailer Truck and Equipment Show at the Melbourne Showgrounds...enjoy!!
KW T604 with 'BAB" Quad Road Train-basically 2 B-Doubles joined up via a dolly

Membrey Transport KW104 with Dolly and Extendable Float

Western Star R.M. Williams 'Longhorn Express'

2008 KW Models- T908

T408 SAR

Noske Transport KW T908 with B-Double grain trailers

Greenfreight KW T658 with Kennedy B-Double Logging Trailers


Another Membrey's KW K108- Brand spankin' new

Cheers
Stripeyjack

I so love the fact that the Aussies on the other side of the planet have so embraced the American road iron all these years. Even though i still don't get why they make them run such short wheelbase tractors then allow them to tow four or five trailers!

Nice pics Stripey.

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We rally round the family, with a pocket full of shells.....

A few reasons for that,
1 - way back about the late 1940's or early 50's there was a choice of TWO different countries of manufacture, - the pommies, - or the yanks.
Now, back then the pommies made heaps of garbage that just did not suit the conditions that we had in Aust back then. The country was still hanging onto the apron stings of the mother country back then. The main drawback with the pommy trucks was they were underpowered heaps of garbage, ( still are, even today ) where-as the yank stuff had some balls about them. Pretty simple reason, eh.
Then along came Mack about the late 50's, early 60's, then Kenworth and the rest is history.
2 - The reason for the wheelbase being so short, is that there were draconian laws introduced by the Australian STATE governments, to combat the use of trucks, instead of the use of the railways, which were owned by the state governments. So to beat these laws, the truck manufactures made the wheelbase shorter, which allowed more trailer length - ie, more freight could be shifted.
Alas, some of these stupid laws are still in force today.

regards radish

Love the pictures. Have three videos of roadtrains. The conditions under which these trucks operate are unreal. Some of the roads they run on are like the haulroads we have in quarries and mines. Again, enjoyed your pictures. Look forward to anymore you might take.

I'll say it again, N - I - C - E , aahh, any more ?

I may be wrong about this but my guess would be to keep the mud off the FRONT of the truck...........if you have ever been down a muddy road in a car or truck........the mud splashes FORWARD in front of the tire and inevitablly up on the front of the vehicle......


Just a Hyley edumicated redneck guess...........lmao

bob, those aussie drivers are so good that they don't turn the trucks around at the end of the run, the reverse all the way back. no, really.

The front mud guards are also there to deflect the typical "ball bearing" type gravel which most of the cross country roads are covered in, the front tyres can pick up this gravel and bounce it on to the road just in front of the tyre and generally it deflects straight into the windscreen of oncoming cars like myself!!!

He, he, he, it aint them little pebbles that get the windscreen of any oncoming cars, it's them bigger ones that the duals chuck up, that breaks all the windows. Now if you do it just right, you can crack quite a few in a day, that's if your really trying to get 'em.
The road rules have changed a bit lately, now duals need to have guards over them, back in the days when the duals were open, all the rocks just got chucked up nicely to get most windscreens. The sound of smashing glass was music to me ears, 'cause many an ignorant moron got his screen busted back in them days.

Wonder what it costs for a new windscreen for that new KW K 108? It sure is a big one piece screen, a real good target for rocks, eh.

Why did they show Daf trucks, nowbody will buy them if you can buy badass trucks like the rest.

We use the front mudflaps just for the bling

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Big wheels keep on turnin' proud V8 keep on burnin'
Passion for power => scania R730